


Heartbreak

by blossomofsnow65



Category: The X-Files
Genre: AU, Break Up, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Post-Episode: s09e19-20 The Truth, dad!mulder, present day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 06:09:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18046994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blossomofsnow65/pseuds/blossomofsnow65
Summary: Lily’s having boy trouble and Mulder's comforts her.





	Heartbreak

**Author's Note:**

> A little dad!Mulder thrown your way. 
> 
> Also, IWTB and seasons 10 and 11 never happened in this fic. 
> 
> No beta, sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes.
> 
> ("Going Home" has been updated!)

At 3 o’clock on a regular Monday, the front door opened. Scully was busying herself setting up the kitchen table with different kinds of cereals and a plate with cookies when she saw her seventeen year-old son walk in.

“Hey, Mom.” He greeted nonchalantly and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi, honey. How was your day?”

William shrugged and sat down, reaching for the box of Cap’n Crunch. “Alright. Mr. Patrick surprised us with a quiz and I’m pretty sure I nailed it.” He took a big bite of his cereal and played with the remaining cereal floating in the milk.

Scully smiled proudly. “Well, I’m glad. You were always good with History, I’m sure you did just fine.” It was then that she realised that Lily hadn’t graced them with her presence. “Where’s your sister? She didn’t say she wasn’t coming home after school.” She furrowed her brows and started walking towards the door that was still wide open.

William chuckled and said with a full mouth, “oh, she’s coming home. Just wait until you see what the little drama queen’s up to now.”

Scully threw her son a disapproving look and continued to walk. She was almost at the door when her daughter came stomping in.

“Ugh! I hate boys! I hate him!” She grunted and ran past her mother. Her bedroom door slammed shut and within seconds, Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ was blasting through the speakers Mulder gave her for Christmas.

“What’s that about?” Scully asked William as she pointed her thumb towards Lily’s room.

He shrugged again. “I don’t know. Something about boys, based on her most recent tantrum.” He got up and set the bowl in the sink and walked to the couch.

“Do you know what happened?”

“Nah.” William slumped on the couch and switched the TV on. He started flipping through the channels as Scully closed the door, then headed towards her fourteen year-old’s bedroom.

She knocked on the door, worried that Lily wouldn’t hear it because of the loud music. “Lily, sweetheart, are you okay?”

“GO AWAY!” She yelled.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Scully turned the door knob, but found it was locked.

“I said, go away, Mom!” Lily yelled back, and Scully could tell she was crying.

“Okay. Well, come out whenever you want. I’ll be here if you need me or want to talk.” She respected her daughter’s wishes and left, deciding to sit next to William.

“Told ya. Full on drama queen.”

Xxxxx

At six o’clock, Mulder arrived from teaching at the Academy. “What’s up, family?” He left his briefcase on the table by the door and hang his coat on the coat hanger. Scully walked over to him and gave him a peck on the lips.

“Please, save your PDA for when we go to sleep.” William mumbled from the couch. His posture hadn’t changed from when he slumped down hours ago.

“Shut your mouth, boy. Greet your father, first.” Mulder tried to say in his most serious voice, but clearly didn’t succeed. Scully chuckled and William rolled his eyes.

“Hey, Dad.” William’s eyes were glued to the TV, but he gave him a small wave.

“Where’s my little Lilyana?” Mulder asked Scully as they walked to the kitchen. He helped himself to some coffee and grabbed a few cookies that had been sitting on the table ever since their children had arrived from school.

Just then, music came from Lily’s room once again, this time a different song that neither Scully nor Mulder recognised. Scully raised her brows and sighed.

“What’s going on? I haven’t heard angsty music this loud coming from her room since the Jonas Brothers broke up.”

“Boy trouble.” Scully simply said.

Mulder took a sharp breath and something inside him stirred. Lily was his little girl and he had sworn on the day they found out they were having a daughter that he was going to protect her from boys no matter what. That he wasn’t going to let her suffer from heartbreak, even if that meant showing whoever hurt her a few lessons.

Scully, knowing her husband like the palm of her hand, saw the change in Mulder’s face and grabbed his hand, caressing it softly. “Mulder, I know what you’re thinking. It was going to happen sooner or later.”

“I didn’t even know she had a boyfriend!” Mulder spat.

“She doesn’t. It must be someone she likes, for all we know.”

“Did she tell you anything? Who he is? I’m going to kick his ass.” Mulder stood up and rolled his sleeves.

Scully quickly stood and gently placed her hands on his chest. “Mulder, don’t do that. Lily would never forgive you. Besides, violence doesn’t solve anything.” She softly said.

“Weren’t you guys FBI agents?” William said from the living room, popping a chewing gum.

They glanced at him and Mulder sighed sadly. “She didn’t say anything to me. I haven’t gone back there ever since she told me she wanted to be alone, but why don’t you give it a try? She has a soft spot for you, maybe she’ll tell you something.” Scully suggested.

Mulder nodded and started towards her bedroom. He stopped behind the couch and whispered in William’s ear, “smartass.” William smiled and switched the channel.

As he got closer, Mulder took a deep breath, bracing himself for what was ahead of him. He had no idea how to talk to a teenage girl about boys, let alone boy trouble.

“Lily, honey, Mom told me you’re upset. Can you let me in and we’ll talk about it?” Mulder said softly as he knocked on the door.

He heard Lily sniffle and say between tears, “go away, Daddy.”

Mulder’s heart shattered. “Honey, please, talk to me. Maybe I can help.” Help you kick his ass.

A few moments of silence and Mulder was about to walk away, that is until the door opened.

Lily was sitting back down on her bed when he got in. Her bed was covered in crumpled tissues and she had her journal next to her. The music had stopped and he noticed from the blinking red light that the speakers had ran out of battery.

He closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed. As he collected the used tissues, Lily threw her arms around him and started to cry again. Mulder shushed her soothingly and rubbed circles in her back.

“Oh, honey. What’s wrong?”

“Boys are so stupid, Daddy.” She cried into the crook of his neck. She was leaving tears and snot on his collar, but he couldn’t care less.

“That we are, Lilyana. But you have to be more specific.”

She sat back up and Mulder handed her a tissue. She blew her nose and spoke. “There’s this boy that I like. His name’s Todd.” Todd. Mulder tattooed the name in his brain. “I like him very much. We were friends for a while and he sort of started giving me hints that he liked me too. But then he started going out with Carrie…”

Mulder blinked in surprise and interrupted, “wait… Carrie? As in your best friend, Carrie?”

“Yeah.” She said in a small voice that had started to break again and she held the tissue to her nose. “Anyway, he started to go out with Carrie. And I found out that he was being my friend only to get closer to her.” Hot, angry, hurtful tears were running down her face once again and Mulder couldn’t help but feel ashamed. He had been like Todd in his teenage years and he now knew how badly hurt the other girl was.

“Did Carrie know that you liked him?” Mulder asked, trying to push away his memories.

Lily shook her head and wiped her tears. “No. I didn’t tell anyone because things like that spread around school faster than lice.”

Mulder sighed and grabbed her hand. “Listen, Lily. Remember when you were five and you came crying from preschool because a boy had pulled on your pigtails?” Lily nodded. “And do you remember that when you told me I said that it was because he liked you and he was just trying to get your attention?” She nodded again. “Well, scratch that. Men are assholes and I apologise on behalf of them.”

Lily looked at her father in shock. “What? Are you saying that what you told me almost ten years ago was a lie?”

“Well, no. I’m saying that sometimes men do things to get a lady’s attention without knowing that they’re hurting them, and that eventually turns them into assholes. For example, that boy from preschool pulled on your pigtails so hard that it gave you a headache. And now this… Todd guy,” Mulder said his name between gritted teeth, “is hurting you by dating your best friend, which makes him an asshole.”

Lily looked confused and shook her head. “Daddy, you’re not making any sense. You’re saying that he’s trying to make me jealous?”

“Maybe. But either way, if he’s trying to get your attention or if he’s actually dating Carrie because he genuinely likes her, he’s an asshole anyway. And you don’t deserve to be with someone who makes you feel like this; who makes you want to lock up in your room and listen to angsty break up songs and cry. You’re too pretty to cry, honey.” Mulder smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Lily responded with a small smile of her own. “Thank you, Daddy. You always know how to comfort me when it comes to boys.” She hugged him again.

“You’re welcome.” he hugged back with a bear hug which made her laugh and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Now, come on. Mom made some cookies today, I’m sure she’ll let you have some. And what do you say we have pizza for dinner?” Mulder stood up and offered his hand.

Lily laughed and threw the tissues in the bin. “Okay, Daddy.” She left the room and heard her hug Scully and apologise for yelling at her earlier, promising to tell her all about it once they sat down for cookies.

Mulder went to the bedroom he shared with Scully and pulled out a photo album they kept on the desk drawer.

Flipping through the pages, he looked at his favourite pictures he shared with his daughter: one from the day she was born and he was holding her while she slept; one that Scully had taken on a rainy day when he had fallen asleep on the couch with a sleeping Lily on his chest; one of Lily standing on Mulder’s thighs with her knees bent and a huge smile on her face from the day when she found out that she could dance; another when they took her on her first trip to the beach and Mulder walked with her hand-in-hand along the shore; Lily’s first day of preschool with her pigtails and her little backpack, Mulder smiling next to her – he’ll deny that his red, puffy eyes were from crying earlier that morning. And finally, his favourite: a black and white photo of Lily looking straight into the camera, hugging Mulder who had his back to it. He was kissing her cheek and the love resonating from both of them was so strong that it almost jumped out of the large album.

He smiled at the memories and the promise he made fourteen years ago was as strong as ever. He never wanted Lily to go through a heartbreak again. But, in the unfortunate event that she did, he will always be there for her to hold her and comfort her no matter what. Because she’s Daddy’s little girl and no matter how many asshole boys crossed her path, that would never change.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: blossom-ofsnow
> 
>  
> 
> ("Going Home" has been updated! Check out chapter 8 on my profile.)


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